The Jungle Taketh
by YuniX-2
Summary: *Scene from TJM* Stuck in a cave, running for their lives, Arnold and Helga both have choices they need to make. Oneshot.


A/N: This is my first Hey Arnold! piece, and quite possibly my last. I rarely feel the need to write down the scenarios that float through my head. This one stuck with me very strongly however, and I felt I just had to get it on paper. Who knows, maybe if you guys help me flesh out my ideas for TJM in your reviews, I'll end up writing more. For now though, this is all you get. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold! a do not intend any copyright infringement.

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The Jungle Taketh

God, it was like something out of _Indiana Jones_, Arnold thought. Three pairs of feet slapping against the dirt floor of the cave as they raced to escape impending danger. He could hear the whooping voices of their pursuers more clearly now. He, Helga, and Gerald may have gotten a head start, but they were only nine. There was no way their short legs could outrun the fully grown, muscular legs of the warriors behind them. Not for long, anyways.

For what felt like the thousandth time, Arnold regretted his short-sightedness. Follow the map – it had seemed like a simple enough plan. But already he had encountered raging rapids, broken rope bridges and countless other nightmares that the map made no indication existed. Jumping in with no research, no equipment – what had he been thinking? Of course, he knew exactly what his thoughts had been. He had wanted to save his parents; it was as simple and easy as that. But he hadn't counted on his friends being so persistent in following him. None of the dangers he had faced would have bothered him if he were alone, but the fact was that he wasn't. Somewhere beneath the layers of adrenaline pulsing through his veins, Arnold felt guilt gnawing at his conscience.

_If only we can get out of here alive..._

His thoughts trailed into nothing as the battle cries echoing behind him grew louder. How much farther until the end of the tunnel? How much longer? Not long, it turned out.

"WHAT?" Helga exclaimed as the three of them screeched to a halt. A solid stone wall loomed in front of them. It was a dead end.

"No. No, it can't be!" Arnold panicked. He frantically began feeling the wall, looking for any sign of a way to escape.

"Hey guys, what's that?" Gerald asked, pointing to a peculiar shape in the shadows. Instantly, Arnold was next to the protrusion.

"It looks like a lever. Gerald, you did it! This must be the way out!" Arnold wasted no time in grabbing hold of the handle, but his hands cried out in pain. The rope burns he had sustained earlier would not allow him to get a proper grip; it seemed his hands could take no more abuse.

"Step aside bucko!" Helga growled as she shoved Arnold aside. Rolling up her sleeves, she grabbed a hold of the lever and leaned backwards, putting all of her weight against it. Slowly, the lever slid in its groove. It didn't move very far, but it was enough. The wall of the cave before them inched upwards, until there was a space roughly a foot wide between the wall and the ground. Daylight poured through the opening. Arnold felt a brief wave of relief wash over him. They had made it through the mountain pass.

There wasn't a moment to spare. The voices behind them were becoming more distinct and gaining in volume with each passing second. Gerald wasted no time in slipping through the gap that Helga had made, but Arnold paused. What about Helga?

"Helga," he asked, eyes wild, "what are you going to do?"

Helga growled. "What are you talking about geek-bait?" she snapped, clearly occupied with keeping the lever in place.

"How are you going to get out of here? If I leave, there won't be anyone to hold the lever for you, and the door will close! How will you get out?"

The lighting was dim, but Arnold could tell by the look that passed over Helga's face that she hadn't thought of this either. He almost thought she was going to start crying, the way the light glinted off her eyes. But she shut them and bit her lower lip, then looked up at him with a new, fierce determination.

"I'm not," she said. "You go."

"What?" Arnold exclaimed.

"You heard me, go!" she ordered.

"Helga, I'm not leaving you."

"You don't have a choice in the matter football head, now get out of here!"

"Arnold?" Gerald called from outside, "Come on man, what are you waiting for?"

"Helga, I can't just leave you here. You'll die. They'll _kill_ you, don't you get that?"

"I'm not stupid Arnold! If one of us has to die, then the one thing I know for sure is that there is no way in _hell_ I'm gonna let it be you. Just go already!"

The raging battle cries that had seemed so deafening only moments before were now only silence compared to the pounding of Arnold's heart in his chest.

"Why would you do that Helga?" he asked, voice raw through his suddenly tight throat.

For one brief moment Helga turned all of her attention away from the lever and locked eyes with Arnold.

"You _know_ why."

His eyes widened imperceptibly for a fraction of a second. Before he could even think of the right words to say, a sudden rumble shattered the spell around them. The stampede of warriors was rapidly gaining, shaking the cavern walls with their might.

"I can't hold it much longer Arnold," Helga pleaded, panic and desperation creeping into her voice. "I need you to go. NOW!"

Without time for a last look back at her face, Arnold dove beneath the hanging stone wall and just managed to slide out in time for it to bang loudly shut behind him. The dirt rose up around him, forcing him to cough.

"Arnold, man, are you all right?" Gerald asked as he helped his best friend up.

Arnold didn't say anything for a while. His eyes were trained on the mountainside before him, which looked as though no tunnel had ever existed within its depths. Helga was still inside. He felt his eyes begin to water.

A hand on his shoulder pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Arnold, we have to go."

Arnold blinked. He looked over his shoulder at his best friend, then nodded. They would come back for Helga at some point, he knew that much already, but now was not the time to dwell on it. Her sacrifice would not be in vain. A new solemn, hardened stare set on his features, Arnold followed Gerald into the thickly vegetated jungle. Silently, he made a vow: San Lorenzo would not be allowed to take any more of his loved ones from him. Arnold would make sure of it.

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A/N: Alright, now that it's over this piece deserves a bit of an explanation. If you don't want to read it that's fine cause it's kind of long, but I'd love to hear if you guys have any ideas for expanding what I thought of in regards to TJM so far, and at the moment this is most of what I have.

First of all let me say that Helga is NOT dead. I couldn't put all of the details of this scene into the story without making it contrived, but the thought process behind it goes like this: the warriors that they are running from are actually some of the Green-eyed people, who guard the ruinous caverns that Arnold, Helga, and Gerald were trespassing through. I imagine that the cavern was marked on Arnold's map because his parents knew the GEP, but since they didn't recognize Arnold (at least not in the darkness of the caverns) they chased after him and his friends for disturbing sacred ground. My thoughts were that after this scene was over, Helga would tell herself to suck it up and go out with a bang, prompting her to put up her fists and yell aggressively at the GEP when they caught up with her. As Craig Bartlett himself has said, the GEP would respect Helga for her aggressiveness, and therefore give her a chance to explain herself. I Imagine that at some point later in the movie, when Arnold and Gerald are cornered, Helga would swoop in with the GEP and save the day. Since I have no idea when would be a good time for them to be cornered though, I just decided to end the story after one scene rather than continue until her eventual return.

Anyways, I just felt that this scene really needed writing. I thought the movie would have to have a scene where Arnold realizes the deeply genuine nature of Helga's feelings for him, and where something shocks him into realizing how much she means to him as well. This scenario was floating around in my head all week, so I just had to get it out. I'm sure you're totally bored of my ranting now, so I'm gonna let you go, but please leave a REVIEW! (I'll love you forever if you dooooo... *hearts!*)


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